Reggio Study Group
in Hamilton This group of educators
and artists in Hamilton has made a commitment to meet monthly for in-depth
discussion of the Reggio philosophy, and collaborative reflection on
documentation. If you are interested in joining this group, please contact Karyn Callaghan by e-mail karyncallaghan@gmail.com

Our next meeting takes place on

Wednesday January
25 from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. at

The
Hamilton Wentworth District School Board Education Centre

20 Education Court

HamiltonL9A 0B9

We will meet in the open space just
inside the main lobby.

This will
be our first opportunity to engage in our own dialogue about the impact of The Wonder of Learning: The Hundred
Languages of Children exhibit on your thinking and practice.

If you
will be attending please reply at the e-mail address below.An article will be sent to those who are
coming to the meeting.

The
fifteenth and final exhibit of the work and thinking by children in the
Artists at the Centre project, documented by artists, will be on display at
the Hamilton Conservatory for the Arts April 30 – May 28.There will be a Community Celebration on
May 6, 6:00 – 8:00, accompanied by the

launch of the book Documenting Children’s Meaning, by Jason
Avery, with essays by Dr. Carol Anne Wien and Karyn
Callaghan.We hope to see children,
families, artists and educators from across the history of the project.

All events
are free.The Conservatory is located
at 126 James St. S. in Hamilton.They
are open Monday – Thursday 9:00 – 9:00, and Saturday 9:00 – 4:30.

Study Group in
Reggio Emilia

In the spring of
2011, one hundred educators from coast to coast participated in the Canadian
Study Group in Reggio Emilia, organized by the Ontario Reggio Association (www.ontarioreggioassociation.ca).

We were accompanied
by nine from the United States and three from Switzerland.The participants included early childhood
educators, elementary teachers, program supervisors, principals, pedagogical
leaders, school district superintendents, artists, authors, students, and
post-secondary faculty, along with a child psychiatrist and two consultants
with the Ministry of Education.It was
an interesting, curious, engaged group of professionals.The impact of this experience will be felt
across the country for a long time.The beautiful spring weather in Reggio gifted us with the opportunity
to gain a sense of the city, and to see how interconnected the schools are
with this vibrant community.

Amelia Gambetti indicated in her opening remarks that what she
recalls when she thinks back over the almost 50 year history of the
infant-toddler centres and preschools in Reggio are
the challenges.“Nothing was given as
a gift.”¯It
is important for us to know this, or we could easily misunderstand the
schools we see there today.To
recognize that reality is constructed and can be challenged and improved is a
significant lesson, particularly right now in Ontario where we are seeing
serious interest in emergent curriculum and the Reggio philosophy in our
Ministry of Education.

We were offered
many provocations to continue to consider in our own work.“How can we build a more democratic
coexistence and a more global idea of citizenship?”¯“Epistemology and aesthetics are
synonymous.”¯“How
do we become a group, day by day?”¯ “How do we learn how, and help children
learn how, to listen to a place?”¯“We believe in a multitude of
languages, however intelligent dialogue between materials is a stronger
belief.”¯

So many images
linger, but perhaps the strongest is the joy that was evident in both
children and educators “ the joy that comes from deep
engagement with important ideas in a context of belief in the intelligence of
all involved.We saw challenging,
creative work, schools full of researchers, the delight that comes from
surprises, and the astonishing combination of pride and humility.We saw beauty and meaningfulness in every
aspect of life.There were more than a
few tears.

I know that
participants in this extraordinary experience have been sharing their
understandings in their own communities.As we heard in Reggio, “every choice is a responsibility”¯.We heard one atelierista
say that they have a firm belief that daily life is not banal - the everyday
activities are the bones of the day, so are carefully thought through.We have returned to the bones of our
everyday activities, more thoughtful, more inspired.We look forward to continuing this
dialogue both within our communities and between us and the educators in
Reggio.

Karyn Callaghan

One community’s exploration of the Reggio Emilia approach to early
childhood education.